Thanksgiving Reflections

I wrote the following thoughts on motives to be thankful as an article for our upcoming church newsletter, the Views.  If you're a member of FBCLS and see it here first before reading it there next week, consider yourself ahead of the game and an overachiever.

As 2015 rushes forward towards its conclusion, I'd like to take this opportunity in the spirit of Thanksgiving to express my gratitude for many things that I count as blessings from God.  I'm grateful for both my immediate family and my church family here at FBCLS.  I count it a high privilege to be able to serve among you.  I'm thankful for countless hours that volunteers have invested this year in many different ministry settings--teaching God's word; caring for children; providing lunches this summer at two apartment complexes; reaching out to Lee's Summit via Downtown Days, Oktoberfest, and Trunk or Treat; and serving the poor, hungry, and ill in Guatemala to highlight just a few areas of service.  I'm grateful for the generosity of our members that make all of these ministries possible.  I'm thankful too for new folks that the Lord has led to join our fellowship this year and for the gifts and talents they bring.  Finally, I'm extremely grateful to serve alongside a wonderful church staff. I am blessed.

A Memorable Night

This photo was taken in the bottom of the 14th inning of the opening game of the 2015 World Series.  I had the awesome opportunity to attend this series opener with my son Jonathan and we were treated to an epic battle between the Royals and the Mets.  Eric Hosmer hit a sacrifice fly during this at bat to score Alcides Escobar from 3rd.  It was an incredible moment to conclude a game that lasted more than 5 hours.  Very few fans left as the picture can attest.

Unless you've been living on a remote island in the Pacific the past couple of weeks, you know that the Royals went on to win the series 4-1.  These comeback, cardiac kids never gave up, even when trailing in 7 of the postseason games and often very late in those contests.  The city celebrated in grand fashion yesterday with a parade and rally at the Liberty Memorial/Union Station.  An estimated 800,000 people turned out to cheer our hometown heroes and did so in an incredibly orderly fashion.

Those of us who closely followed the Royals all season will undoubtedly be experiencing withdrawal symptoms from baseball until next spring, but for now, we get to bask in the glory of a world championship during this off-season.  Well done, guys!

The Impartation of Blessings

I read a powerful piece today on Scot McKnight's blog by Josh Graves that deals with the practice of blessing others.  It is well-written and worth reading.

God's Timely Provision

It's always exciting when the Lord does something in a serendipitous manner--unexpectedly and often without fanfare or build-up.  I was privileged to experience such a moment a couple of weeks ago.  One of our church members who is a veteran of multiple missions trips and a leader in our Women on Missions program asked if she could visit with me prior to the meeting of one of the groups.  When she did so, she shared that for quite some time that group had been raising money to help dig a water well somewhere in the world.  The initiative began with one of the ladies having a burden to supply fresh water for those who didn't have access to it.

The issue was that the ministry that they had been considering channeling the funds through had established a cost of around $4000 per well.  The ladies had collected about $650 and wanted to know if some other group might be able to use it to complete a well for much less. 

I shared that one of the churches that we've worked with twice on previous trips to Guatemala has been trying for a prolonged time to obtain a water well on their church property without success and suggested that I'd contact the pastor and see where they stood on the project.  Taking advantage of Facebook Messenger, I had an answer back from him in a few short hours.  The estimated cost to finish the well and also obtain a pump to bring the water to the surface was $670.  When I shared that news with the leader who had brought up the matter to me, she informed me that additional funds had been received that day from among the ladies in the group, pushing the total beyond the figure that the church needed to complete the well.  She excitedly told me that they were thrilled to designate those funds for a church with whom we've previously served in Guatemala and the funds have been sent to Churchnet to be transferred to the church in Guatemala. 

I eagerly anticipate in the near future learning that the church has received those funds and is proceeding with the drilling of the well.  I'm overwhelmingly grateful to the Lord for the generous actions of the Women on Missions group and for international connections that facilitate being able to meet a critical need.

Tips for Using the Bible on Social Media

Please pardon the lengthy absence from posting on this blog.  My family and I were able to take a couple of weeks of vacation to beautiful Alaska and Seattle on a cruise to celebrate a bit early our 40th anniversary.  At some point, perhaps I'll share a few pictures of the beautiful scenery that we were able to appreciate as we marveled at God's handiwork so evidently on display there.

Today I wanted to share a link to a very good article about how we use the Bible on social media.  The author, pastor Larry Eubanks of the FBC of Frederick, Maryland, suggests that instead of using the Scriptures to bash others and attack their positions, we need to read the Bible and share it on social media through the lens of the fruit of the Spirit that Paul describes in Gal. 5:22-23. 

It's a good article and well worth reading.  Here's the link to it:
http://ethicsdaily.com/8-awesome-tips-to-use-the-bible-on-social-media-cms-22710

The Field

The title of the post comes from a story that our pastor's father, J.V. McKinney, shares about growing up in Little Rock, Arkansas.  J.V. was here in Lee's Summit yesterday for worship services, and Blake (our pastor) shared the story as an illustration in his message about the Good Samaritan and the power of the gospel to break barriers. 

J.V.'s story appears in Ethics Daily today and is well worth reading.

Brian Kaylor's Message from Churchnet Gathering

Baptist News Global today features an article that highlights portions of Brian Kaylor's address to Churchnet's recent annual gathering in Jefferson City.  As I commented in my own post on the gathering, Brian's message was quite prophetic.

Here is a link to the sermon Brian preached.

In Honor of Today

I couldn't resist sharing this opportunity to chuckle (or groan) as the case may be.

Most people don't know that back in 1912, Hellmann's mayonnaise was manufactured in England. In fact, the Titanic was carrying 12,000 jars of the condiment scheduled for delivery in Vera Cruz, Mexico, which was to be the next port of call for the great ship after its stop in New York.

This would have been the largest single shipment of mayonnaise ever delivered to Mexico. But as we know, the great ship did not make it to New York. The ship hit an iceberg and sank, and the cargo was forever lost.

The people of Mexico, who were crazy about mayonnaise, and were eagerly awaiting its delivery, were disconsolate at the loss. Their anguish was so great, that they declared a National Day of Mourning, which they still observe to this day.

The National Day of Mourning occurs each year on May 5th and is known, of course, as Sinko de Mayo.

Apologies

I have no idea what is causing extraneous text from a previous post to appear in the most recently posted recap of Churchnet's annual meeting.  I've deleted and re-posted it multiple times without being able to resolve the issue.

I'm going to continue to work on the issue, but apologize for the appearance and the difficulty in reading that this has occasioned.

Annual Meeting Recap

Churchnet's annual gathering at FBC Jefferson City last weekend was a wonderful experience.  We kicked the event off as we do each year with our missions banquet.  Forestal Lawton and I shared about the trip to Cuba last October, including pictures of countryside, modes of transportation, churches we visited, etc.  I also gave a briefer description of the most recent Guatemala training trip for pastors and leaders Brian Kaylor and I led this past January.  Each year during the banquet, we receive an offering that helps fund our missions partnerships and this year's response to the offering was very generous.  Between money received and pledges made, the total was right at $7500 toward our goal of $10,000.  I expect we will reach and surpass that goal in the coming weeks as others contribute who were unable to attend the meeting.

FBC Jeff City's choir and orchestra led us in a beautiful time of worship on Friday evening, followed by a challenging and prophetic message from my colleague, Brian Kaylor.  Brian addressed the theme of the gathering which focused on sharing hope by building a community of peace and reconciliation.  It was a timely message in light of the ongoing racial unrest in our nation.  Brian made several references to the pioneering work of Clarence Jordan in the area of racial reconciliation with the establishment back in the 1940s of the Koinonia Farm in Georgia.  Those who lived there (both blacks and whites) were targeted by violent protests as many opposed any efforts toward racial equality and mutual understanding.  Jordan is perhaps best known as the author of the Cotton Patch Gospel, a paraphrase that sets the message of the New Testament in the language and context of the South.

Saturday morning we had a brief business meeting after breakfast to elect officers and approve the adoption of the new Vision 2020 strategic plan that has been hammered out over a 9 month period or so beginning last year.  Here is a video introducing the plan and outlining its main components.

Following the business session, 7 different breakout sessions were offered.  I had comments that several of these were outstanding.  I was unable to attend any other than the two which I led that centered on preparing one's church for a cross-cultural missions experience.  The 5 of us present in the first session had a lively discussion about issues to consider in planning and carrying out a missions trip overseas or in a cultural context other than our own.  In the second session, Jeff Buscher (who serves as a chaplain and professor at William Jewell) and I had a chance to converse about mission philosophy and what Jewell is doing with their students in Honduras, working in a couple of villages there to do community development.  It was a very profitable time of sharing.

Finally, we wrapped up Saturday morning with a beautiful time of worship led by Second Baptist Church in Jefferson City.  The music of their choir and the message by their pastor were both outstanding.

Mary's Shame Reversed

Scot McKnight's blog, Jesus Creed, often features posts and articles by a young pastor named Jonathan Storment that I've really enjoyed.  Today he hits a home run with a piece about the shame that Mary endured until Jesus' resurrection reversed everything.  I hope you'll take time to read this article.

Churchnet's Annual Meeting

I'm looking forward to the annual gathering of Churchnet this Friday and Saturday at First Baptist Church Jefferson City.  As is our custom, we'll begin the time together with a missions banquet, eating some good food together, but more importantly, celebrating what the Lord has done through our missions efforts.  This year we will highlight the trip several of us took last October to Cuba as well as our ongoing partnership with Guatemalan Baptists.

This year's theme for the gathering is a timely one in light of all the recent incidents of racial tension and violence in our nation.  The theme is Share Hope: Building a Community of Peace and Reconciliation.  In addition to our plenary gatherings for worship and inspiration, a number of breakout sessions will focus on the theme of sharing hope as well.  The following breakout sessions will be offered twice each on Saturday morning:

Worship that Advances Peace & Reconciliation – Brian Kaylor
Understanding Racial Issues from a Historical Perspective – Molly Fleming-Pierre
Mission JC – Melissa Hatfield
An Introduction to a Conversation on Race – W. T. Edmonson
Disaster Relief Ministry with Chain Saws – Gary Hurst
Beneath the Skin (Documentary & Discussion) – Jim Hill
Leadership the Ozarks Way – Bob Perry
Preparing for a Cross-Cultural Mission Trip – Gary Snowden

If you are in driving distance of Jefferson City this weekend, we'd love to have you come and join us for this annual meeting.  You can register at Churchnet's website:  http://www.churchnet.org/ or simply show up and register there. 


 

Shane Claiborne on "Holy Week in an Unholy World"

I've been sharing several different blog posts this week from different authors as they reflect on the significance of the cross and Holy Week or Semana Santa as it's known in Latin America.  Today I read this post by Shane Claiborne on the Red Letter Christians blog.  One story he tells was especially gripping.  I'll quote him here:

One of the most powerful Good Friday services we’ve ever had was a few years ago. We carried the cross into the streets and planted it outside the gunshop in our neighborhood. We had our services there. We read the story of Jesus’s death… and heard about the women weeping at the foot of the cross. And then we listened to the women in our neighborhood weep as they shared about losing their kids to gun violence.

Calvary met Kensington.

Afterwords, one woman said to me: “I get it! I get it!” I asked her what she meant. And then she said something more profound than anything I ever learned in seminary: “God understands my pain. God knows how I feel. God watched his Son die too.” Then I realized she was the mother of a nineteen-year-old who had just been murdered on our block.

God understands our pain. That is good theology for Good Friday. And that kind of theology only happens when we connect the Bible to the world we live in. It happens when worship and activism meet. We don’t have to choose between faith and action. In fact we cannot have one without the other.

Let’s get out of the sanctuaries and into the streets.
- See more at: http://www.redletterchristians.org/holy-week-in-an-unholy-world/#sthash.H4TES42l.dpuf

 "One of the most powerful Good Friday services we ever had was a few years ago.  We carried the cross into the streets and planted it outside the gunshop in our neighborhood.  We had our services there.  We read the story of Jesus' death ... and heard about the women weeping at the foot of the cross.  And then we listened to the women in our neighborhood weep as they shared about losing their kids to gun violence.

Calvary met Kensington.

Afterwards, one women said to me: "I get it!  I get it!"  I asked her what she meant.  And then she said something more profound than anything I ever learned in seminary: "God understands my pain.  God knows how I feel.  God watched his Son die too."  Then I realized that she was the mother of a nineteen-year-old who had just been murdered on our block. 

God understands our pain.  That is good theology for Good Friday.  And that kind of theology only happens when we connect the Bible to the world we live in.  It happens when worship and activism meet.  We don't have to choose between faith and action.  In fact we cannot have one without the other.

Let's get out of the sanctuaries and into the streets."

One of the most powerful Good Friday services we’ve ever had was a few years ago. We carried the cross into the streets and planted it outside the gunshop in our neighborhood. We had our services there. We read the story of Jesus’s death… and heard about the women weeping at the foot of the cross. And then we listened to the women in our neighborhood weep as they shared about losing their kids to gun violence.

Calvary met Kensington.

Afterwords, one woman said to me: “I get it! I get it!” I asked her what she meant. And then she said something more profound than anything I ever learned in seminary: “God understands my pain. God knows how I feel. God watched his Son die too.” Then I realized she was the mother of a nineteen-year-old who had just been murdered on our block.

God understands our pain. That is good theology for Good Friday. And that kind of theology only happens when we connect the Bible to the world we live in. It happens when worship and activism meet. We don’t have to choose between faith and action. In fact we cannot have one without the other.

Let’s get out of the sanctuaries and into the streets.
- See more at: http://www.redletterchristians.org/holy-week-in-an-unholy-world/#sthash.H4TES42l.dpuf

One of the most powerful Good Friday services we’ve ever had was a few years ago. We carried the cross into the streets and planted it outside the gunshop in our neighborhood. We had our services there. We read the story of Jesus’s death… and heard about the women weeping at the foot of the cross. And then we listened to the women in our neighborhood weep as they shared about losing their kids to gun violence.

Calvary met Kensington.

Afterwords, one woman said to me: “I get it! I get it!” I asked her what she meant. And then she said something more profound than anything I ever learned in seminary: “God understands my pain. God knows how I feel. God watched his Son die too.” Then I realized she was the mother of a nineteen-year-old who had just been murdered on our block.

God understands our pain. That is good theology for Good Friday. And that kind of theology only happens when we connect the Bible to the world we live in. It happens when worship and activism meet. We don’t have to choose between faith and action. In fact we cannot have one without the other.
- See more at: http://www.redletterchristians.org/holy-week-in-an-unholy-world/#sthash.H4TES42l.dpuf

One of the most powerful Good Friday services we’ve ever had was a few years ago. We carried the cross into the streets and planted it outside the gunshop in our neighborhood. We had our services there. We read the story of Jesus’s death… and heard about the women weeping at the foot of the cross. And then we listened to the women in our neighborhood weep as they shared about losing their kids to gun violence.

Calvary met Kensington.

Afterwords, one woman said to me: “I get it! I get it!” I asked her what she meant. And then she said something more profound than anything I ever learned in seminary: “God understands my pain. God knows how I feel. God watched his Son die too.” Then I realized she was the mother of a nineteen-year-old who had just been murdered on our block.

God understands our pain. That is good theology for Good Friday. And that kind of theology only happens when we connect the Bible to the world we live in. It happens when worship and activism meet. We don’t have to choose between faith and action. In fact we cannot have one without the other.
- See more at: http://www.redletterchristians.org/holy-week-in-an-unholy-world/#sthash.H4TES42l.dpuf

Latest Edition of Churchnet's Monthly E-Magazine

The latest issue of Churchnet's monthly digital E-magazine is available for your reading pleasure and information.  March's issue focuses primarily on the upcoming annual meeting at FBC Jefferson City scheduled for Apr. 24-25.  Highlights of the annual meeting always include our missions banquet that will share information about our international partnership efforts in places like Guatemala, Cuba, and the Ukraine; great speakers and worship; several informative breakout sessions; and the unveiling of the new strategic plan for 2015-2020.  I hope you'll read the magazine but also strongly encourage you to consider attending the annual gathering itself.

"Celebrating" an Execution

If you don't regularly subscribe to Scot McKnight's Jesus Creed blog, you really ought to do so.  He always features some outstanding posts--both those that he personally writes and others that he shares from other bloggers.  In this Holy Week, Jeff Cook's blog post about "Celebrating" and Execution is a vivid reminder of how Christ' death transformed the imagery and meaning of the cross.  Click on the link to read it and you won't be disappointed.

A Great Dorothy Sayers Quote for Easter

As I was reading Scot McKnight's blog earlier this week in which he included a post by Jonathan Storment, I came across this quote from Dorothy Sayers that Jonathan Storment includes.  It's a timely reminder of what Jesus suffered in His incarnation as He took our sins upon Himself.

"For whatever reason God chose to make man as he is— limited and suffering and subject to sorrows and death—He had the honesty and the courage to take His own medicine. Whatever game He is playing with His creation, He has kept His own rules and played fair. He can exact nothing from man that He has not exacted from Himself. He has Himself gone through the whole of human experience, from the trivial irritations of family life and the cramping restrictions of hard work and lack of money to the worst horrors of pain and humiliation, defeat, despair and death. When He was a man, He played the man. He was born in poverty and died in disgrace and thought it well worthwhile." –Dorothy Sayers

Churchnet's E-Magazine Features Guatemala Partnership

My buddy and colleague, Brian Kaylor, has put together an outstanding presentation in this month's Churchnet E-magazine about our Guatemala partnership.  Take a look at it here.

Barrio Infanta Construction

In our first term as missionaries with the IMB (still the FMB actually at that time), we served in the city of Mendoza, Argentina.  I directed a leadership training institute for church leaders sponsored by the Baptist association of Mendoza and also pastored the Guaymallen Baptist Church.  We also launched a new church across town in the neighborhood where the widow of the former pastor of the Guaymallen Church lived.  He had been instrumental in helping many neighbors build their homes in his neighborhood (called Barrio Infanta).  As a result, the municipality did something unprecedented and bequeathed a large lot to the Baptist church with the stipulation that the church had to build upon it within 5 years and offer something back to the community.

With the pastor's death in a tragic accident, together with his son who served as the church's music director, the vision of building on that lot lay dormant and the deadline for building something was quickly approaching.  When I began serving as the Guaymallen church's pastor, his widow, Doña Laura, shared with us about the property in their neighborhood.  We began to meet on Sunday mornings there in a small caretaker's hut (not more than about 10' x 15' total) and soon outgrew it.  We requested and received permission from the adjacent public elementary school to meet under their covered patio while we pursued plans to build.  To make a very long story a wee bit shorter, we encountered public opposition from one prominent individual in the neighborhood who didn't want to see an evangelical church built next to the public school.  He was a devout Roman Catholic and presumably viewed us as a threat.  We eventually got permission from the municipal government to build, but the process dragged out for an entire year.  That was a period of great economic instability in Argentina and building materials rose in price 800% that year due to hyper-inflation.

The result was that we were unable to build what had been drawn up and approved by the city and we had to scale back and construct just what was originally designed to be an entryway foyer downstairs with classrooms upstairs.  We left the walls undone so as to provide a meeting space for our growing congregation.  We dedicated that building and called a national pastor to assume leadership of the church on our final Sunday before returning to the US on our first furlough.  Here's a picture of that original building.

Just this week I received pictures of the interior of the new sanctuary which has been constructed behind this original building--pretty much along the lines of what was originally envisioned.  It's been more than 20 years since this work was begun, but it's a source of tremendous joy to see this church that we helped plant continue to flourish and grow after more than 2 decades.  Here's a picture of the interior of the new sanctuary.  I think the wooden ceiling is absolutely beautiful.

The Tabitha Ministry Featured in Ethics Daily

I am a bit slow in getting around to posting this on my blog, but I had linked to it earlier on my Facebook account.  Brian Kaylor, my Churchnet colleague, has followed up his earlier piece this week in Ethics Daily about our recent training trip with another article (which appeared on Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2015 in Ethics Daily) that features the Tabitha Ministry.  This is a ministry that is near and dear to my heart after having visited it on each of the many trips I've taken to Guatemala in the past 9 years or so.

Here's the link to the article.

I've also translated it into Spanish and posted it on a new Spanish blog that I've recently begun.  It can be found here.

Ethics Daily Article on Guatemala Training Trip

Brian Kaylor, my Churchnet colleague who accompanied me and shared the teaching responsibilities during our most recent trip to Guatemala, has an informative article in Ethics Daily this morning about that trip and the work of Guatemalan Baptists.  At the end of an article is a further link to photos that Brian took during the trip.

Wrapping up a Great Week in Guatemala

My Churchnet colleague, Brian Kaylor, and I will be returning to Missouri tomorrow morning after spending the week in Guatemala.  We had a shift in our travel plans last Monday morning when a defective motor that controlled the flaps off one of the wings of our plane in Kansas City forced us to return to the gate, unload, and board another plane.  By the time all of that process was completed and we took off for Houston, we were late enough that we missed our connecting flight.  Rather than arriving by noon that day, we were re-booked on a flight not scheduled to arrive until 10:00 p.m. that night.  After doing some inquiring and pleading, we were rerouted on a different United flight to Mexico City and from there on an Aeromexico flight to Guatemala City.  We arrived by about 6:20, some 40 minutes before our rescheduled flight would have even departed from Houston.  

We stopped to eat dinner in Guatemala City before heading westward to Quetzaltenango after seeing that the traffic was basically at a standstill.  The meal was delicious and the traffic had cleared out enough by the time we finished that we were able to arrive in Quetzaltenango in just a little under 3 hours--good time for the winding roads and some dense fog we encountered in a couple of stretches of the highway.

Brian and I led 5 different training sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday for a group of 80 pastors and leaders from across western Guatemala.  He focused on the area of communication--speaking of communication as the foundation for how we relate to our world and to God, later speaking on sermon delivery, and finally wrapping up his presentations with one on the use of social media in ministry.  I led two sessions on how to share our faith with Roman Catholic friends.  The sessions were well received and there was good feedback and interaction following each one during a time of Q&A.  

Today (Thursday) we started the day with a visit to the Tabitha Ministry in Guatemala City before spending just a few hours in Antigua this afternoon, doing some sightseeing since this was Brian's first trip here.  I'm including a few pictures of the children whom the Tabitha Ministry cares for by providing a safe, loving environment for their care, feeding them, and providing early childhood education up through the 3rd grade.