Back from Zim + How many migrants live near you? + Are we a church for the unchurched?
Travelogue: I arrived home Thursday from an amazing 12 days in Zimbabwe Africa. See some pics HERE. Global Life Ministries plants churches, trains leaders, and supports ministries from one of the poorest parts of the country. An amazing team, led by Peter Mabasa, who are radically serving and sharing the gospel making a huge impact. You don’t have to be a big, wealthy church to make a big impact. You just have to be willing to say Yes to Jesus.
Research: 4.1 million migrants: Where they’re from, where they live in the U.S. – LINK. (FYI: You can view this once and then you get a paywall, so make time for interacting with it before you click)
- Scroll down to an interactive map that allows you to type in your Parish/County and see how many immigrants have settled near you.
- Commentary: For the Disciple Maker, this should not be political. We should see this as an opportunity. God is bringing the nations to our doorstep. May we be faithful to find ways to reach and disciple them.
Article: Are you a church for the unchurched? 4 Questions – LINK
- Is your marketing targeted toward the unchurched?
- Is your service designed to generate intuitive invitations?
- Is your message simply proclaiming the Christian message or actually explaining it?
- Did any of these questions make you defensive?
Reading, etc.
- Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment without Burnout
- Transforming Prayer: How Everything Changes When You Seek God’s Face by Daniel Henderson
Next Week:
- Looking forward to kicking off a Send Network Louisiana Summer Luncheon Tour across Louisiana – LINK.
His Swift Word
“He sends his command throughout the earth; his word runs swiftly.”
Psalms 147:15 CSB
https://bible.com/bible/1713/psa.147.15.CSB
“If God’s word runs very swiftly, then it can even overtake those who run away from it. Not only can the Lord come quickly to those who seek him, but he can overtake those who hasten away from him.” (Spurgeon)
Lord, let your word overtake our prodigals, our rebels, our lost but loved ones.
I also love the Message Paraphrase of this verse:
“He launches his promises earthward— how swift and sure they come!“
https://bible.com/bible/97/psa.147.12-18.MSG
Zimbabwe Mission Trip 2024
Wonderful few days with Global Life Ministries and Pastor Peter Mabasa, serving the churches in Binga, Zimbabwe, among the Tonga People of Zimbabwe and Zambia. Pray for these pastors serving in difficult conditions with great faithfulness. Much more to share later.
When it Comes to Character, Make No Exceptions
“For David did what was right in the Lord’s sight, and he did not turn aside from anything he had commanded him all the days of his life, EXCEPT in the matter of Uriah the Hethite.” 1 Kings 15:5 CSB
https://bible.com/bible/1713/1ki.15.5.CSB
An “EXCEPT” in relation to your character could change the course of history for your family. David made an exception in his mission, by not going out to battle with his armies (2 Samuel 11:1). He made an exception in his obedience to God, by sleeping with another man’s wife, then having that man (Uriah the Hittite) killed to protect his own image (2 Samuel 11-12). The result was death, brokenness, and pain for David’s family, along with the curse of division and war in David’s family line forever (2 Samuel 12:10). Make no mistake, the “EXCEPT” in parentheses in David’s life was devastating. And it would be devastating for you and I as well. Make no exceptions in your relation to your character and put no parenthetical “EXCEPT” next to your testimony and family name.
- What exceptions are you making, considering, or imagining for yourself? (“I don’t have to go to church” ; “It will never happen to me” ; “It’s just this once” “No one will ever find out”) In relationships, spiritual disciplines, habits and beliefs?
- If there is already an “EXCEPT” in your life, have you repented and allowed God to bring healing? (see Psalm 32 and 51) And how have you moved past the temptation to make sin common and OK in your life?
- Ask God to help you put a period instead of parenthesis on your testimony forever.
Persecutor to Persecuted
“He conversed and debated with the Hellenistic Jews, but they tried to kill him. When the brothers found out, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.”
Acts 9:29-30 CSB
https://bible.com/bible/1713/act.9.29-30.CSB
“The story of Saul’s conversion begins with him leaving Jerusalem to persecute the followers of Jesus. It ends with him leaving Jerusalem as a persecuted follower of Jesus.” – Link
And much more than that – 2 Corinthians 5:17.
On Mission to Zimbabwe
A favorite thing about Summer: IT’S MISSION TRIP SEASON! I love to see friends and churches pursuing God’s mission and leveraging their time off to get involved in the global work of God. God is in the world reconciling people to himself and has invited us to join this great mission of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:19-20). Mission Trips are one of the ways that we can do that.
I’m excited to join God’s mission in Sub-Saharan Africa this summer. We will be traveling June 16-27 to Zimbabwe to learn from, encourage, and train with local pastors in remote areas on the Zambia border. We have a great partner church in Zimbabwe that plants churches, supports rural pastors and church planters, and works with orphans in this country that continues to suffer through an AIDS epidemic, famine and drought, and crippling inflation and unemployment.
I would greatly appreciate your prayers for this trip.
- You can financially support this trip HERE. Our church generously pays up to 1/2 the cost of all mission trips for partners. We’ve sought to raise additional money to support rural church planters with bicycles and solar lamps and provide mattresses for an AIDS Orphanage that we will visit while there. Hunger relief is a big need as well (Read more). Any additional money will go to support these causes. GIVE NOW.
- You can read about the People Group we will be working with HERE.
But there is forgiveness…
“Lord, if you kept an account of iniquities, Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, so that you may be revered.”
Psalms 130:3-4 CSB
https://bible.com/bible/1713/psa.130.3-4.CSB
Spurgeon’s Commentary – “It may be that you have sinned many times and grievously; but ‘there is forgiveness.’ Though a child of God, you have gone far astray from him; but ‘there is forgiveness.’ You have backslidden sadly and horribly; but ‘there is forgiveness.’ The devil comes and howls at you, and tells you that your doom is sealed, and your damnation is sure; but ‘there is forgiveness.’ Oh, blessed sentence!”
The Promises of Parental Discipline
Discipline: The Bible’s answer to Three Deep Questions every parent is asking.
This weekend, our church continued studying through the Old Testament book of Proverbs. Specifically, we looked at a couple of dozen verses for parents. Proverbs offers great encouragement and direction for Parents. Some interesting notes that generated some great discussion, were on the topic of discipline.
Three questions every parent is asking in their heart are answered by being a diligent disciplinarian according to Proverbs:
1. How do I show my love to my children?
- Proverbs 3:12 – for the Lord reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights.
- Proverbs 13:24 – Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.
2. How do I assure the success of my children?
- Proverbs 19:18 – Discipline your son, for there is hope; do not set your heart on putting him to death.
- Proverbs 22:15 – Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline drives it far from him.
3. How do I assure a peaceful relationship with my children?
- Proverbs 29:17 – Discipline your son, and he will give you rest; he will give delight to your heart.
Discipline is a parent’s duty. A duty best administered by a parent, because no one loves and graces a child like a parent can (when they are healthy). Parents must give up the desire to be liked and overlook behavior in a child for peace. Behavior comes from the heart. If unaddressed, the behavior could bring about future harm to the one you love. Parenting means committing to do the hard thing: Discipline our children because we love them, want them to be successful, and want them to know peace and delight us. It’s not easy, but it does produce what we desire for our kids.
- Hebrews 12:11 – No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
World War 2 Family Photos
My Grandfather, PT Corley, wasn’t in France on D-Day. He was in Italy, where US Forces had taken control of Rome a couple of days before. Not a lot out there about the war in Italy. I enjoyed Rick Atkinson’s trilogy if you’re interested in the North Africa and Italy campaigns.
- An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa – 1942 to 1943
- The Day of Battle: The War in Sicily and Italy – 1943 to 1944
- The Guns at Last Night: The War in Western Europe – 1944 to 1945
Enduring Friendships: Sticking Together in an Age of Unfriending
Bryan Loritts provides a great challenge to build relationships that last in his new book Enduring Friendships: Sticking Together in an Age of Unfriending. The book uses Paul’s New Testament letter to Philemon as a backdrop for thinking deeply about friendship. And it does challenge us to think deeply about our relationships. Onesimus, the slave to Philemon, who likely stole and then ran away from his servitude, making him deserving of severe consequences if not death. Philemon, the enslaver, and partner in the gospel with Paul. Paul, the missionary, who led both of these men to Christ and now pleads with them to do hard things for their relationship and for the glory of God.
- He wants Onesimus to repent and go back and face his offended enslaver.
- He wants Philemon to repent and receive Onesimus, not as a slave who stole from him, but as a brother who merits his embrace and partnership.
- Paul himself wants to pay whatever is owed to Philemon. “Put it on my account.”
We don’t know “the rest of the story”, but can imagine that repentance was had, forgiveness was extended, and God was glorified, because Onesimus is later counted as a Bishop in the early church.
This book reminds us that relationships are hard but worth fighting for. And enduring relationships are costly and take courage to pursue through the messiness of life. What a mess the book of Philemon offers up. But what a beautiful picture of grace and forgiveness if Paul’s formula is lived out. The offender repents, the offended forgives, and the beauty of reconciliation is witnessed by all.
I wish I could say I didn’t have any tangled messes of relationships in my 49 years, but I can’t. I wish I could say that I’ve always done the right and hard thing for the sake of reconciliation. In ministry, the slights received often make us callous toward deep relationships and make it easier just to let people walk away or not make the journey back to the one we offended. People come and go. Sometimes close relationships are resisted because we begin to expect slights, disrespect, betrayal, and eventual departure. Enduring Friendships reminds us that relationships are worth it.
The key to it all of course is Jesus. He empowers us to forgive, to receive grace, and to repent. And he did the hardest thing of all so that we could experience reconciliation by offering up his own body on the cross.
Some great thinking and maturing to be stirred up by Bryan Loritts’ new book. Grab a copy.
Here’s a few of my favorite quotes:
- Soul-level friendship often feels like a full-time job with periods of bad compensation.
- The problem is relationships are drama, and I don’t mean that in a negative way. Whose life is not made up of mountaintops and deep valleys? If we’re not up for drama, we are not ready for relationships.
- A Christian who does not forgive is a contradiction in terms.
- There is no lasting friendship without grace.
- If you want to have sustained friendships over the course of your life, you must accept that you will at various points be Onesimus and Philemon – offender and offended.
- When we fail to allow for nuance and complication, we set the table for short-lived friendships that never resurrect from the graveyard of offense and betrayal.
- The journey of friendship is fraught with unavoidable hurt because those involved are marred by sin.
- Gossip is saying something behind a person’s back we would never say to a person’s face. Flattery is saying something to a person’s face we would never say behind their back.
- Pride is the #1 killer of friendship. Humility is the prime nourisher of healthy relationships.
- When we are at death’s door and inevitably stare into the rearview mirror of our lives, we will not take joy in our acts of retribution.
- An ungracious Christian is an oxymoron.
- nothing illumines our witness and stands more in contradistinction to our world than when we fight to remain at the table of friendship with people who we have wronged and who have wronged us.
Lane Corley 